Sally Walker's Sally Ride: The Pioneer
Sally Ride: The Pioneer Throughout history, it is evident that women have been oppressed in one way or another. Whether it be from unequal salaries or having less opportunities as men. Women all around the world have strived to get the same rights as men have and this is seen in different fields. Sally Ride, the youngest and the first American women to go to space is an inspiration to women all around the world for opening doors for women. Sally Ride’s encounters in the field, her space exploration, her excellence in the scientific world and her intuition to encourage other women prove that women can do the same things as men if given the opportunity. Sally Ride changed the way women were perceived in the scientific field and challenged gender
…show more content…
stereotypes in the United States. Many mocked her before she flew into space. They made remarks that attacked her gender and they did not treat her the same way they treated male astronauts. “Dr. Ride politely endured a barrage of questions focused on her sex: would space flight affect her reproductive organs? Did she plan to have children? Would she wear a bra to space? Did she cry on the job? How would she deal with menstruation in space” (Grady). In addition to the personal questions that they bombarded Ride with, the media took it upon themselves to put stereotypes in Ride. “Johnny Carson joked that the shuttle flight would delayed because Dr. Ride had to find a purse to match her shoes” (Grady). The ridiculous response Ride received show how society viewed a woman who tried to step out of the box to further scientific advances. Armstrong and Aldrin did not get the same response as Ride before they flew into space. They were celebrated and deemed heroes, unlike Sally Ride who was ridiculed and forgotten as an American hero. Ride’s encounters with gender stereotypes helped prove that women are capable of the same things as men. Although Sally Ride was tormented in the media, she handed the negativity with class showing that women are a force to be reckoned with. Ride saw herself as a scientist more than anything else. She did not let her tormentors make her do her job differently to please their standards. She continued what she loved to do which was science. “She saw herself first and foremost as an astronaut and a scientist, and felt that ‘one thing that I probably share with everyone else is composure” (Kinpfer). Ride did everything that she did to the standards of her team not the standards of outside pressure. The amount of trust that Ride had to put in the media was an enormous amount for the public only saw what the media showed them about the first American woman who became an astronaut. In an interview where students submitted questions in to Sally Ride, a student asked, “Did you feel a special responsibility with being the first American woman in space?” Ride answered, “Yes, I did feel a special responsibility to be the first American woman in space. I felt very honored, and I knew that people would be watching very closely, and I felt it was very, very important that I do a good job” (Sally Ride Interview). Sally Ride knew that she had to do an in incredible job in order to please the public and represent women across America. Ride’s journey was plagued because many were jealous of her work.
Sally Ride went through a long process to get to where she was before she died, and she did not do it overnight. Ride was hard working, even as a child. She enjoyed many sports and was always interested in the sciences. However, that did not mean that she was an all A’s student. “She took Physics courses. She was never a straight –A student, but she certainly did well…A lot of typical undergraduate stuff happened to her” (Akpan). Ride was like any other student which made her relatable. One of the academic and athletic that Ride had was going to Stanford where she played number one for their women’s tennis team and got her PhD for Physics. Stanford was where she saw that ad that NASA put up. The flyer stated that NASA was looking for women to join their astronaut program. “It wasn’t luck that got her the job, but her PhD and academic interests that helped her beat out most of our 8,000 applicants who vied for the position. Ride was one of just 35 women who made it into the first class of astronauts for the Space Shuttle program, embarking on six years of grueling astronaut training” (Edwards). Out of the six, Ride was chosen to be the first American woman to go to space. During her time in space, Ride did an amazing job and she enjoyed her job because it was her passion and she did not want people to think otherwise. “While in space, Ride helped deploy two communications satellites, conducted trials of the …show more content…
mechanical arm she had helped design, and performed and monitored about forty scientific experiments. She flew on her second, and final, shuttle mission the following year” (Sally Ride, Newsmakers). Along with her crew member John M. Fabian, they had designed a mechanical arm that was vital in placing communication satellites. “In addition to her astronaut training--weightlessness, flight simulation and actual flight, parachute jumping, water survival--she pursued work in engineering, helping to develop a robotic arm for the space shuttle. Robert L. Crippen, the commander of the Challenger, selected her for the 1983 crew because of her expertise on the device” (Sally Ride, Newsmakers). In addition to Ride’s work with NASA, she also worked with the government. “In 1986, she served as the only astronaut on the presidential commission investigating the Challenger explosion” (“The 1980s Science and Technology: Headline Makers). Ride impacted the scientific world greatly. Not only did she advance technology, she also advanced people’s ideas of women being in the scientific field. She also stressed how women should be given the same jobs as men because they are capable of doing the job and that they should not be given a job simply because they are women. Due to Ride’s hard work and passion for science, women got more opportunities in exchange. Ride broke through the wall that sexists put up to exclude women in certain jobs. “Sally Ride broke barriers with grace and professionalism-and literally changed the face of America’s space program” (Granath). Ride showed America and the world how women can make an impact in the world. In addition to Ride’s love of science, she also helped others by being aware that she was influential. “ Her pioneering voyage and remarkable life helped, as President Barack Obama said soon after her death… ‘ She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars for she showed us that there are no limits to what we can achieve’” (Knipfer). Ride’s accomplishments were admirable to everyone in the past and it still inspires many people today. Without Sally Ride’s intuition to help others, women and other minorities might not have had people pushing them to achieve their dreams. “Ride was the first American woman in space and the youngest person ever to leave Earth's atmosphere, something that took dedication and a willingness to break down walls in a male-dominated industry” (Brooks). Sally Ride’s determination was the most important thing that she brought to making men and women equal because without it, she would just have been another scientist and she would not have been the first American woman in space. She did the other part of being the first American woman in space which is to be role model. To be someone that everyone can look up to. Ride was more than a scientist. She was a pioneer. Combined with her initiative to break the gender barrier, Ride also created an organization to help young people.
Sally Ride Science is an organization that encourages the youth to follow their dreams. Ride saw the impact that she made when got back from Space and how it affected everyone especially the kids. “ To be able to combine her love of science with her deep concern for helping women and young girls to me was the perfect combination of the things that she wanted to do in her life” (Moskowitz). Ride’s help means the whole world to many people in the scientific world. Whether she encouraged them when they were younger or they saw her on the television break the barrier between women and science. Sally Ride also founded Sally Ride Science to bring STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in front of young girls who were discouraged from pursuing a career in the STEM fields. “Everywhere I go I meet girls and boys who want to be astronauts and explore space, or they want to be engineers. I want to see those same stars in their eyes in ten years and know that they are on their way” (Regan). Ride’s program affect the way that young people see science. In her organization, they can see how science affects the real world. Instead of seeing it on their homework, they see it in action right in front of them. In addition, Ride was a perfect example that hard work beats natural excellence; it encourages kids and it teaches them that it is never too late to purse
anything. Sally Ride did not have an IQ over 140 but she was still able to get her PhD from Stanford. Sally Ride started playing tennis when she was ten, (which is late in the world of collegiate and professional tennis), but she was still the number one player in Stanford, on the verge of becoming a pro player. The point is that she was the poster child for hard work. Sally Ride did not wake up one day and said, “I think I’ll be the first American woman to go to space today.” She worked hard and that is one of the important things that Sally Ride Science teaches kids. Ride’s use of her influence to create an organization for kids to pursue their dreams is admirable and inspirational. It shows how much she truly cared for others to share her love of science and give the kids a chance to use the door that she opened in 1983. Ultimately, Ride’s contribution to the scientific field shows how women can do the same things as men and affect the world as heavy as men do. Although Ride’s work helped break the gender barrier in the United States, it is still evident in societies all over the world. This problem will take more than a woman who changed history. It will need support from people all around the world to stop stereotyping gender, race or age and if this ever happens, Sally Ride would be proud. She would have been glad to know that her sixty one years here on Earth and in space was one of the master keys that help unlock equality for all.
stereotypes in the United States. Many mocked her before she flew into space. They made remarks that attacked her gender and they did not treat her the same way they treated male astronauts. “Dr. Ride politely endured a barrage of questions focused on her sex: would space flight affect her reproductive organs? Did she plan to have children? Would she wear a bra to space? Did she cry on the job? How would she deal with menstruation in space” (Grady). In addition to the personal questions that they bombarded Ride with, the media took it upon themselves to put stereotypes in Ride. “Johnny Carson joked that the shuttle flight would delayed because Dr. Ride had to find a purse to match her shoes” (Grady). The ridiculous response Ride received show how society viewed a woman who tried to step out of the box to further scientific advances. Armstrong and Aldrin did not get the same response as Ride before they flew into space. They were celebrated and deemed heroes, unlike Sally Ride who was ridiculed and forgotten as an American hero. Ride’s encounters with gender stereotypes helped prove that women are capable of the same things as men. Although Sally Ride was tormented in the media, she handed the negativity with class showing that women are a force to be reckoned with. Ride saw herself as a scientist more than anything else. She did not let her tormentors make her do her job differently to please their standards. She continued what she loved to do which was science. “She saw herself first and foremost as an astronaut and a scientist, and felt that ‘one thing that I probably share with everyone else is composure” (Kinpfer). Ride did everything that she did to the standards of her team not the standards of outside pressure. The amount of trust that Ride had to put in the media was an enormous amount for the public only saw what the media showed them about the first American woman who became an astronaut. In an interview where students submitted questions in to Sally Ride, a student asked, “Did you feel a special responsibility with being the first American woman in space?” Ride answered, “Yes, I did feel a special responsibility to be the first American woman in space. I felt very honored, and I knew that people would be watching very closely, and I felt it was very, very important that I do a good job” (Sally Ride Interview). Sally Ride knew that she had to do an in incredible job in order to please the public and represent women across America. Ride’s journey was plagued because many were jealous of her work.
Sally Ride went through a long process to get to where she was before she died, and she did not do it overnight. Ride was hard working, even as a child. She enjoyed many sports and was always interested in the sciences. However, that did not mean that she was an all A’s student. “She took Physics courses. She was never a straight –A student, but she certainly did well…A lot of typical undergraduate stuff happened to her” (Akpan). Ride was like any other student which made her relatable. One of the academic and athletic that Ride had was going to Stanford where she played number one for their women’s tennis team and got her PhD for Physics. Stanford was where she saw that ad that NASA put up. The flyer stated that NASA was looking for women to join their astronaut program. “It wasn’t luck that got her the job, but her PhD and academic interests that helped her beat out most of our 8,000 applicants who vied for the position. Ride was one of just 35 women who made it into the first class of astronauts for the Space Shuttle program, embarking on six years of grueling astronaut training” (Edwards). Out of the six, Ride was chosen to be the first American woman to go to space. During her time in space, Ride did an amazing job and she enjoyed her job because it was her passion and she did not want people to think otherwise. “While in space, Ride helped deploy two communications satellites, conducted trials of the …show more content…
mechanical arm she had helped design, and performed and monitored about forty scientific experiments. She flew on her second, and final, shuttle mission the following year” (Sally Ride, Newsmakers). Along with her crew member John M. Fabian, they had designed a mechanical arm that was vital in placing communication satellites. “In addition to her astronaut training--weightlessness, flight simulation and actual flight, parachute jumping, water survival--she pursued work in engineering, helping to develop a robotic arm for the space shuttle. Robert L. Crippen, the commander of the Challenger, selected her for the 1983 crew because of her expertise on the device” (Sally Ride, Newsmakers). In addition to Ride’s work with NASA, she also worked with the government. “In 1986, she served as the only astronaut on the presidential commission investigating the Challenger explosion” (“The 1980s Science and Technology: Headline Makers). Ride impacted the scientific world greatly. Not only did she advance technology, she also advanced people’s ideas of women being in the scientific field. She also stressed how women should be given the same jobs as men because they are capable of doing the job and that they should not be given a job simply because they are women. Due to Ride’s hard work and passion for science, women got more opportunities in exchange. Ride broke through the wall that sexists put up to exclude women in certain jobs. “Sally Ride broke barriers with grace and professionalism-and literally changed the face of America’s space program” (Granath). Ride showed America and the world how women can make an impact in the world. In addition to Ride’s love of science, she also helped others by being aware that she was influential. “ Her pioneering voyage and remarkable life helped, as President Barack Obama said soon after her death… ‘ She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars for she showed us that there are no limits to what we can achieve’” (Knipfer). Ride’s accomplishments were admirable to everyone in the past and it still inspires many people today. Without Sally Ride’s intuition to help others, women and other minorities might not have had people pushing them to achieve their dreams. “Ride was the first American woman in space and the youngest person ever to leave Earth's atmosphere, something that took dedication and a willingness to break down walls in a male-dominated industry” (Brooks). Sally Ride’s determination was the most important thing that she brought to making men and women equal because without it, she would just have been another scientist and she would not have been the first American woman in space. She did the other part of being the first American woman in space which is to be role model. To be someone that everyone can look up to. Ride was more than a scientist. She was a pioneer. Combined with her initiative to break the gender barrier, Ride also created an organization to help young people.
Sally Ride Science is an organization that encourages the youth to follow their dreams. Ride saw the impact that she made when got back from Space and how it affected everyone especially the kids. “ To be able to combine her love of science with her deep concern for helping women and young girls to me was the perfect combination of the things that she wanted to do in her life” (Moskowitz). Ride’s help means the whole world to many people in the scientific world. Whether she encouraged them when they were younger or they saw her on the television break the barrier between women and science. Sally Ride also founded Sally Ride Science to bring STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in front of young girls who were discouraged from pursuing a career in the STEM fields. “Everywhere I go I meet girls and boys who want to be astronauts and explore space, or they want to be engineers. I want to see those same stars in their eyes in ten years and know that they are on their way” (Regan). Ride’s program affect the way that young people see science. In her organization, they can see how science affects the real world. Instead of seeing it on their homework, they see it in action right in front of them. In addition, Ride was a perfect example that hard work beats natural excellence; it encourages kids and it teaches them that it is never too late to purse
anything. Sally Ride did not have an IQ over 140 but she was still able to get her PhD from Stanford. Sally Ride started playing tennis when she was ten, (which is late in the world of collegiate and professional tennis), but she was still the number one player in Stanford, on the verge of becoming a pro player. The point is that she was the poster child for hard work. Sally Ride did not wake up one day and said, “I think I’ll be the first American woman to go to space today.” She worked hard and that is one of the important things that Sally Ride Science teaches kids. Ride’s use of her influence to create an organization for kids to pursue their dreams is admirable and inspirational. It shows how much she truly cared for others to share her love of science and give the kids a chance to use the door that she opened in 1983. Ultimately, Ride’s contribution to the scientific field shows how women can do the same things as men and affect the world as heavy as men do. Although Ride’s work helped break the gender barrier in the United States, it is still evident in societies all over the world. This problem will take more than a woman who changed history. It will need support from people all around the world to stop stereotyping gender, race or age and if this ever happens, Sally Ride would be proud. She would have been glad to know that her sixty one years here on Earth and in space was one of the master keys that help unlock equality for all.